Saturday, March 10, 2012

Tidbit: Green banana strategies

Did you ever
buy a bunch of bananas that were as green as a shamrock? I’ve had a few bunches
that never, ever ripened, even after 2 weeks of watchful waiting. The poor
things just started to dehydrate.

This week, the store had very green bananas and very ripe
bananas. Since I wasn’t in the mood for making banana bread, I choose the green
ones.

When bananas and other fruits ripen, they give off ethylene
gas. The grocers give the bananas a dose of gas in a controlled setting before
the bananas hit the produce aisle, to help them gradually ripen.

So what can you do when the bananas are way too green and
you want them edible? The Chiquita banana people have banana ripening and
storage tips on their web site (they also have interesting recipes for bananas
in any stage of ripeness).

Tip: If your bananas are too green, put them in a brown
paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight to speed ripeness. I have also
draped a bunch of bananas over a bowl of apples and that worked pretty well,
too.

Tip: Slow down the ripening process by storing bananas in
the refrigerator. The skin will turn dark but the banana will maintain their
stage of ripeness for several days.

Tip: Don’t put green bananas in the refrigerator or they may
not resume ripening, even when returned to room temperature.

Tip: Bananas that are too ripe for eating can be peeled and
frozen to use later in banana bread or muffins.

1 comment:

I'm just happy to hear the rest of the brown bag story. Everyone just told me to put the green bananas in there, they never mentioned putting an apple in with them and of course nothing happened.I like my bananas quite ripe for my morning smoothie since that makes it sweet without adding any additional sweetener.

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About Me

I'm a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Educator. Day job: Outpatient nutrition counseling.
Moonlighting: Food and Nutrition Writer and Recipe Analysis.
I have been writing "Ask the Dietitian"
food and nutrition column since 1985;
my column has appeared weekly in
The Muskegon Chronicle,
The Grand Rapids Press, and
The Jackson Citizen Patriot.